Thursday, March 6, 2014

1863 - RF/1B John Coleman was born in Saratoga Springs, NY. He was an Allegheny in 1886 and then played with the Pirates from 1887-88 and again in 1890. For beginning his career as a pitcher, he did OK with the bat, putting up a .266 BA in his Pittsburgh days.

1940 - 1B/OF Wilver Dornell Stargell was born in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. Pops played his entire 21-year MLB career (1962-1982) for the Pirates. Captain Willie hit .282, with 2,232 hits, 423 doubles, 475 HR and 1,540 RBI. His teams captured six NL East division titles, two NL pennants and two World Series (1971, 1979). Stargell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

1973 - In an spring exhibition game against the Bucs, the Twins’ Larry Hisle became the first DH in MLB history. He did a good job, too, hitting 2 HR and collecting 7 RBI. It was the first year the rule was in effect, and five teams used a DH that day.

1979 - SS Clint Barmes was born in Vincennes, Indiana. The slick fielding, stick-challenged SS has been a Bucco since 2012, when he signed a two-year, $10.5M FA contract and was brought back in 2014.

Hero Decks - see below

1985 - SS Arky Vaughan was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Vaughan batted .318 with a .406 OBP over a 14-year career with the Pirates (1932-41) and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was inducted on July 28th.

1996 - RHP Jim Bunning was elected into the Hall of Fame. Most of his 17 year career was spent with the Tigers and Phillies, but he pitched in Pittsburgh from 1968-69, earning 14 of his career 224 wins. He was inducted on August 4th.

1999 - 1B Kevin Young signed the richest contract in Pirate history, a $24M, four-year deal that was made possible by anticipated revenues from the team's soon-to-be-built stadium.

2001 - 2B Bill Mazeroski was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. He was inducted on August 5th, tearing up during his speech and tucking his handwritten notes away, saying "I think you can flush these 12 pages down the drain."

2007 - The Bucs signed Cuban righty Yoslan Herrera to a three year/$1.92M deal. He made it to the show in July, 2008, and in five starts, he went 1-1/9.82. The Pirates released him during the 2009 offseason, and he was out of baseball after another year.

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